Car rental and driving in Italy

I agree completely. We found the roads of Tuscany and Umbria very well paved but crooked mostly. But they were well marked, and we had no problems driving at all.

We turned our car in at the Orvieto Hertz office across the street from the train station. It' was jus 70 minutes to Rome's Central Train Station.

Stay out of the big cities to avoid those ZTL's though.

Thank you for posting this. I am single and traveling alone. I will be spending a few week going around Tuscany prior to staying in Florence for 4 weeks (where I will not need a car) I am planning for a year from now and the scariest part for me is driving. How easy is it to stop on the side of the small roads so I can take in the views? I am thinking of taking the train from Rome to Orvieto to pick up a car there as well. I love that you said it is fun, easy and exciting. That is exactly what I am looking for.

If you will have the car for a few weeks perhaps consider leasing?

You should know that Italy traditionally has some of the most expensive auto fuel in Europe.

Since you have time you should become familiar with the Italian traffic laws, and specifically about TUTOR, IDP, and ZTL (and the signage), and what the different colours of the signs indicate. As you will be on your own you should be familiar with whatever device you will use for navigating. Somewhat confusingly most apps and maps refer to route numbers but in most cases those route numbers won't appear on road signs. You need to know what the name is of the next couple of villages or towns on your route because that is what the road sign will point to.

For example https://www.bespoqe.com/sites/default/files/inline-images/napoli-salerno.jpg or also this other sign (note the green sign at the top pointing towards the Autostrada).

"The only tricky part was returning the car at Fiumicino. Not hard, just a bit confusing."
Ha! the understatement of the year! Google maps, using "Avis autonoleggio return" took us, after circling the airport for what seemed like miles, to a Limo restricted must-have-a-pass lane. We had to back up, in true Italian style lol! when we finally found the garage, the return was not on the 2nd floor, as on our Avis paperwork, but on the 3rd floor. We asked another couple returning their own rental if they had trouble, and they described a similar harrowing experience. We all had a good laugh on the very long walk to the terminal.

And Nigel above is absolutely correct. We marveled at the fact that Google would announce a series of route numbers at a roundabout, none of which were present. We mostly looked at the graphic - "honey, in effect you're going left at the next roundabout". It definitely helped to have a navigator.

And for Elaine, there are plenty of pullovers, not only for enjoying the views, but for double checking your directions! We did find it weird though, that the autostrada gas stations could only be entered from one side of the road. requiring two gas stations instead of one in the middle of an island...but not a big problem, just a waste of extra gas stations.

Elaine roundabouts are your friend take another lap when in doubt. Also useful for getting rid of that dude tailgating you. Brad

I must have had your car agent after your adventure lol...he stressed over and over as to how too return to the parking garage. In short, we simply followed the picture of the car with the words "car rental" and a key above the picture and turned off all Garmin and Google map devices as we approached Fiumicino. When entering the garage, you take a parking ticket which makes you think you've entered the wrong garage, but a hundred feet ahead, you use the ticket to enter and drive to the appropriate floor. Avis return was on the 2nd floor, same as where we picked up the car. This was just a few days ago. Remember it's Italy, gotta go with it and find the humor.